Certificate in Criminal Law

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​​​​The Certificate in Criminal Law provides students with broad-based, comprehensive training in the law and skills needed to become prosecutors, defenders, or to practice criminal law in a private firm setting.

In order to receive the Criminal Law Certificate, students must earn at least 14 credits with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 from the following courses and satisfy the writing requirement as outlined below.

REQUIRED COURSES - 6-7 CREDITS

REQ7140 - Criminal Law (3) AND

CRI7262 - Constitutional Criminal Procedure (3) OR

CRI7307 - Criminal Practice & Procedure (4)

SKILLS/EXPERIENTIAL REQUIREMENTS - 8-16 CREDITS

CRI7350 - Criminal Law Clinic or a part-time externship or a full-time SIP in a prosecutor's or defender's office or a part-time or full-time judicial externship where 50% or more of the student's time is spent on criminal matters (6-13 credits depending on whether placement is part-time or full-time). AND

LIT7220 - Trial Practice (3) OR

LIT7318 - Intensive Trial Practice (2 or 3 credits depending on whether the student is selected to compete in the Texas Young Lawyers' Association Trial Competition)

WRITING REQUIREMENT - 0-3 CREDITS

A substantial written work on a criminal law topic approved by the Faculty Coordinator of the Criminal Law Certificate. This requirement may be satisfied by any of the following:

A law review note submitted and approved to satisfy the AWR requirement

An AWR written in conjunction with a criminal law seminar or other class

An AWR written as part of an Independent Research Project

An AWR written to satisfy the AWR requirement but not otherwise for academic credit

​A substantial written work that would satisfy the AWR requirements if submitted as an AWR